Film Review: Bohemian Rhapsody

I so enjoyed this film – even though I only went to accompany someone else and I’m not an especial fan of Queen the pop group. It is definitely one to watch in the cinema, BIG SCREEN, to get the incredible sense of large stadium concerts – at which Queen excelled – and the necessary sound equipment to reproduce that.

I loved:

the texture – with plenty of macro closeup from the start

the wonderful sound – one of the quietest scenes in the movie is seeing a Boeing landing with a grace and slowness usually lost in the real time sound of engines. And of course the stadium sound and performance are all full, deep, involving, sound too. The sound designer should at least get an Oscar nomination.

the sense of stage performance – anyone interested in being in a music band should watch this, because it takes you there, right onstage

LiveAid recreation: this begins and ends the film and does not disappoint

it brings out the sense of being an “outsider” and the casual racism behind Freddie Mercury’s life

Freddie Mercury as portrayed in the film is startlingly inspirational in how he counts things as a positive and is thinking bigger and further than the immediate

the actor who plays Freddie Mercury does a terrific stage performance – but yet while doing that, manages to look startlingly like Mick Jagger at times

Gwilym Lee does a phenomenal portrayal of Brian May, so much so, that you do a double-take to make sure it isn’t actually him

Funniest line in the movie (for me) is when the group are in a kitchen and begin to have a throwing things at each other row – interrupted by unity in shouting:

“Not the coffee pot!” when it is picked up to be thrown. (I like that sense of priorities).

Obviously, the remaining members of Queen wanted to remember Freddie with affection so the film is slightly rose-tinted around the edges. However, a measure of its strength is that I left the cinema, wanting to read more about the songwriter and the band.

What is the song “Bohemian Rhapsody” about?

Plenty of theories – here are a few, some more believeable than others.